Ankeny continued to grow in 2009, though at a significantly different pace than in previous years. 7,360 square feet of industrial space and 3,391 square feet of off retail space were added. 23 acres were also annexed, and no new office space was built. These figures are all substantially lower than previous years.

However, institutional growth largely made up for other sectors with an unprecedented 442,574 square feet of new space being started. This was due mostly to the new high school, middle school, and elementary school, but several privately owned projects contributed as well.

Residential development grew 13% in 2009, as construction began on 421 new homes. Though an improvement, it is still the second slowest growth year of the last decade. It is interesting to note the amount of single-family verses multi-family homes being constructed: In 2005, it was split evenly with 50% in each category. In contrast, 2009 shifted to meet changing demand with 88% of the starts being single-family detached homes.